Lucy looked around her apartment and sighed in relief. Nobody's here. She thought to herself, collapsing on her bed. She had just gotten back from a mission with Natsu. Sure, all they had to do was save a cat from a huge tree, but it was exhausting when she had to keep telling Natsu not to set the tree ablaze.

"Guess I should take a shower before I fall asleep..." She mumbled to herself, slowly lifting her tired body up. It's like gravity gets 100x stronger when you try to get out of bed.

Lucy grabbed some soft pink pajamas and a cotton towel while heading into her bathroom. As she undressed, though, she saw a large purple burn that went across her back.

"What the...?" Lucy stepped closer to the mirror, inspecting it. "When did this happen?" She asked herself, staring at the spot in wonder. It reminded her of purple vines. "Maybe Natsu accidentally did this at some point?"

Deciding to figure it out later, Lucy stepped into the shower and turned on the hot water. It flowed over her shoulders, causing her to lightly moan in happiness. It's like hot water can take the stress out of your system, leaving you with nothing but peace. After lathering herself with shampoos and body washes, she quickly dried off and threw on her pajamas. She towel dried her hair, and it clung to her neck and back.

She sat at her little desk and produced a piece of paper from one of the drawers, like she did many times each week.

Dear Mama,

Sorry I haven't written for a few days. How are you? I miss you so much. Today, I saw a little girl and her mom in town. The little girl had an ice cream cone in one hand, and her mother's hand in the other. They both giggled when the little girl got ice cream all over her nose, and it reminded of the time when we did that. Remember, Mama? That was a few months before you got really sick. I just wish that we could have had more days like that. I miss your laugh, Mama, and I miss you reading to me every night before bed. It was always some story about a princess in distress, and a prince would save her. I want to be stronger than that, though. Natsu always comes to save me, and I never get to return the favor. Maybe I should train more, huh? I'll do that. Then, I can protect Natsu when I can.

I Love you, Mama. I'm going to bed, now. Tomorrow, I'll head out to train. I'll make you proud, Mama. Until next time,

Lucy.

Lucy stared at the letter, and at the idea of her training. How would she do that? And would a certain pink-haired mage bug her to death while she was in the midst of her strengthening? Lucy hoped she could do it on her own and not have to ask Natsu. The room was thrown into darkness as Lucy turned off the light, crawling into her warm covers. Before she knew it, sleep overtook her body, and like the room, she was also cast into the dark.

...

Lucy stared at the request board. She figured the best way to train was to go out on a job. When she saw one that fit her pretty well, she took the paper to Mira, who signed off on it.

"Is Natsu not going?" Mira asked, picking up a glass to clean it.

"No, besides, he's not even up yet. I need to do this one alone, to train." Lucy smiled at the white-haired mage, who looked concerned for her blonde friend.

"Lucy, are you sure that's a good idea? This job seems a little hard for just one person..." Mira didn't think that the blonde would be able to defeat a demon on her own...

"It'll be okay. It's just a simple book demon. Those tend to be weak." Lucy tried to reassure her friend.

"I-if you say so... What time will you be leaving?"

"As soon as I can get my things packed. I should be home in about three days."

"Good luck!" Mira called as Lucy began to head out the doors. Mira, still cleaning her glass, wondered what a certain pink-haired dragon slayer would think of these turn of events.

...

Natsu entered the guild, looking for his partner. When he saw that she wasn't in her usual spot at the bar, he decided to approach Mira. This girl seemed to know everything that went on in the guild. It was actually pretty scary...

"Oi, Mira! Where's Luce?" Natsu asked, hands behind his head.

"You mean she didn't tell you?" She asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Tell me what?" Natsu's brows furrowed together.

"She took a job to defeat a book demon. She said something about training."

"She took one without me...?" Natsu sounded hurt, and he was. They were partners for a reason!

"Wait, did you just say Lu-chan took that job?!" Levy asked, coming up to the bar. She looked frantic for some reason.

"Y-yeah, why?" Mira set down the glass she had been cleaning.

"This is very bad.." Levy's eyes filled with fear, and she began to slightly shake.

"What do you mean?" It was Nastu's turn to feel uneasy. Seeing Levy like this would be unsettling for anybody.

"The book demon is named Malachi. He drags his victims into his book, and then he kills them, writing a page in their blood." AT this point, Levy was really pale.

"Oh, no!" Mira said, bringing her hands up to her face. "What are we going to do?"

"I'm going after her." Natsu said, running out of the guild.

Mirajane looked at Levy and busted out laughing, as did the bluenette. Natsu could be an idiot sometimes. This was all going according to Mira's plan...

...

Lucy sat on the bed of the hotel she was staying at. Defeating the demon had been too easy, but she did enjoy doing something by herself for once. She didn't feel as useless as she did.

"Guess I should take a shower." She mumbled to herself, pushing off of the bed and slipping into the bathroom

She stood beneath the hot water, letting it take away all the sweat and grime she had accumulated throughout the entirety of the day. When finished, she turned off the water and opened the shower curtain, shrieking in fear at the scene before her. There, standing in front of her, was her pink-haired partner, a confused look on his face.

"N-N-N-Natsu?!" Lucy cried, her heart beating a mile a minute. It wasn't until he looked away blushing did she remember she was naked. "Ah! GET OUT!" She screamed, throwing the miniature shampoo bottles at him.

Quickly, Natsu left the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. I thought it was strange that she'd be fighting a demon in a hotel... But why'd Mira and Levy get so worked up? Natsu thought, sitting down on the bed, completely embarrassed.

Lucy left the bathroom wearing a pink shirt and grey sweatpants, her cheeks still red from what had just happened in the bathroom. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, staring at her partner, whose head was buried in his hands.

"Natsu, why are you here?" Lucy asked, trying to keep her cool. He did seem to be embarrassed.

"Levy and Mira told me that you'd probably need help, considering the demon was so dangerous." Natsu's voice wasmuffled from his hands, but Lucy could make out what he said.

"Natsu, you need to trust me. I know I'm not that strong, but that's why I took this job! Besides, it was really easy." Lucy said, her arms falling to her sides.

"So, you're okay?" Natsu asked, looking up at her. Lucy could see the concern in his eyes.

"Mm." She took a seat next to him, putting a hand on his knee to calm him down a little bit. It seemed to work, then Natsu began to blush, and Lucy soon figured out why. Her face was only an inch away from his, and her breathing hitched in her throat. Her heart momentarily stopped beating, and she stared into his onyx eyes.

Natsu knew his partner was attractive, but he had always pushed it aside. Now that she was only an inch from his face, he couldn't push it away like he normally could. His heart began to beat faster, and he could feel the room getting hotter with his blush. Her brown orbs were fixated on his onyx ones, and neither could look away.

That is, until the unexpected happened. Natsu began to lean forward, beginning to close the space between the two. Lucy didn't know what to do, so she punched him. She couldn't help it! She hadn't ever been in this situation before! Realizing what she had done, Lucy began to freak out.

"Eh? Ah! Natsu, I'm so sorry!" Lucy said, hovering over the knocked out dragon slayer. "Hehe, oops..." She sweat-dropped.

...

Mira and Levy peered into the lacrima, dumbfounded. There was no way their plan didn't work!

"Guess we're going to have to try again next time..." Levy said, disappointed.

"Y-yeah..." Mira agreed.

"Ne, Mira?"

"Hm?"

"When Natsu comes back, do you think he'll be mad? We did send him on a wild goose chase..."

"He won't be mad... at me... You are the one who told him the lie.." Mira smiled innocently.

"W-what?" Levy's eyes filled with fear, a scenario of her catching on fire playing in her mind.

"Good luck~!" Mira said, cleaning a glass, leaving a scared Levy to think about the horrors Natsu would put her through.

"Oh, no..." Levy went and sat by a certain pierced dragon slayer. Besides, knowing Natsu, he'd probably forget... Or so she had hoped...

(A/N) This obviously is NOT my best work... But I was super bored. I'm so sorry. And I know I kind of left it with a weird ending, but I figured that it makes it funnier. It kinda reminded me of a Kimmy Schmidt move when Lucy hit Natsu. Hehe I love that show. It's super great. Anyways, thanks for reading!